Photoshop Elements or Canvas 9?

[wordmunger]

I'm a former book designer and typographer who needs a little more power than GIMP and MS Word can give me for producing small documents. I don't like the font/printing hassles of GIMP, and MS Word just isn't precise enough.

Case in point: I'm creating an invitation that involves a photo and text; I'd like to print it out with about 1/4 inch tolerance. MS Word simply looks like crap printing on my Canon i850; iPhoto does a much better job but can't handle the text and the dimensions I need. I don't want to spend $1000 on Quark or InDesign, so I've narrowed my choices to Canvas 9 ($149 with student discount) and Photoshop Elements (around $90).

I think either of these would offer the precision I need, but I'm leaning toward Canvas because of its drawing and document handling capabilities. I can still use GIMP for photo editing, so I'm not too concerned about Canvas' limitations in that department. Anyone out there had experience with Canvas? How does it do with multi-page documents? Does it run fine in Panther? Or is Photoshop Elements a better program overall?

[johnnyjibbs]

I've never used Canvas but I do have Photoshop Elements and I think it's a very good program. It has most of Photoshop's features but for a very modest price and you can create amazing documents with it. Text based stuff is weaker but you can still import any PDF of a word file and you can still apply a range of effects. I use it for producing professional-quality home-made birthday cards and invitations. It's good for posters too. Of course, then you can also get creative with all your photos too.

[wordmunger]

Originally posted by johnnyjibbs
I've never used Canvas but I do have Photoshop Elements and I think it's a very good program. It has most of Photoshop's features but for a very modest price and you can create amazing documents with it. Text based stuff is weaker but you can still import any PDF of a word file and you can still apply a range of effects. I use it for producing professional-quality home-made birthday cards and invitations. It's good for posters too. Of course, then you can also get creative with all your photos too.

I agree, but if Canvas can handle multi-page documents and doesn't have serious problems, it would be a better overall value.

[bousozoku]

Originally posted by wordmunger
I agree, but if Canvas can handle multi-page documents and doesn't have serious problems, it would be a better overall value.

Canvas has a lot to offer, and I would choose that, if I had no other choice.

However, Macromedia Studio MX 2004 can be had for $189 (education price, your mileage may vary) and offers quite a bit more. It's really only missing the precision drawing tools and the sometimes quirky interface.

[Powerbook G5]

I got Photoshop Elements for only $45 and I think it's excellent. I haven't found anything that is lacking compared to its bigger brother.

[wordmunger]

Originally posted by bousozoku
Canvas has a lot to offer, and I would choose that, if I had no other choice.

However, Macromedia Studio MX 2004 can be had for $189 (education price, your mileage may vary) and offers quite a bit more. It's really only missing the precision drawing tools and the sometimes quirky interface.

I have Macromedia Studio MX (not 2004) and it has *major* printing problems, particularly with Freehand. I haven't seen anything to indicate that Freehand has improved its printing woes in the updated version. The problems with Freehand are actually one of the main reasons I'm looking for another program.

[bubbamac]

Have you tried RagTime Solo?

For producing an invitation, it sounds perfect.

I'm not fully qualified on it yet, but it's working good for me so far.

And, it's free, as long as it's for personal use.

[wordmunger]

Wow! Just downloaded Ragtime. Unfortunately I have to go to work now, so I can't try anything substantive, but it looks like a powerful program. I'll post back here once I've had a chance to try it out. I'd still like to hear if there are any Canvas users out there.
<Ben Stein voice>
Anyone?
Anyone?
</Ben Stein voice>

[bubbamac]

I've just had a chance to really use RagTime for a project, and I do believe that it's been causing some stability problems with my system.

If I leave RagTime running for a couple of days, I find my TiBook get real unstable. I'm not sure if it's the constant putting it to sleep (3-10 times/day) or the uptime that's causing the instability - but I'd shut RagTime down after using it. Not very mac-like, but...